Improvement in rocking and reclining chairs



A w, STEWART. Hocking and Reclining Chairs. NglirQOAh Patented Aprill4M/W'l/M/W/l/c Cal/M X/osomzsmacssw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER vv. STEWART, or EoSToN, MASSACHUSETTS.

lMPRovEMENT IN RocKlNe AND RECLINING CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 149,804, dated April14, 1874 5 application led March 6, 1874.

To alt 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER W. STEEL ART, of Boston, in the.county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement inRocking and Reclining Chairs 5 and I do hereby declare that thefollowing, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany andform part oi' this specification, is a description of my inventionsufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

United. States Letters Patent No. 98,119, dated December 21, 1869, havebeen granted to me for an improved rocking and reclining chair, theframe of said chair having rockers mounted upon the side rails of astationary base, to which the rockers are jointed by crossing links thathold the rockers to the base during the rocking movement, and in suchpatent I show devices for locking the rocking frame to the base, so asto change the chair from a rocking to a stationary or reclining chair.

My present invention pertains to a chair "constructed not unlike thegeneral construction shown in said patent, and relates to theconstruction and arrangement of the locking mechanism.

In my present inventionI extend up from y the base a curved post, havinga series of apertures or notches, and to a rail under the scat I pivot alever, a forwardly-extending arm from which has a hook that enterseither aperture or notch of the post, while a rearwardly-extending armhas an eccentric opening, through which passes a shaft, journaled in theside rails of the chair-frame, and carrying at one end a knob, by whichthe shaft is between these parts, permitting the lever-hook `to move byor into either notch.

The invention consists in substantially the provision, as thus generallydescribed, for securing the locking parts in position.

The drawing represents a construction einbodying my invention.

Figure l shows the chair in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a sectionalelevation of the same.

a c denote the rockers, resting and rocking on the tops of the rails ofthe stationary base b, and connected thereto by the two pairs ofcrossing links c c. Fixed to and extending up from the front rail d is ashort curved post or arm, e, having in its rearface a series of notchesor apertures, f, for receiving a hook, g, at the end of the front arm ofthe lockinglever 7b. This lever is pivoted atc' to a bar, It', under theseat, and the lever has a horizontal arm, l, in which is the eccentricopening m. Through this opening extends the shaft u,

journaled in the bar 7c, and in the side bars o o, and having at one enda knob, p, by which to turn it.' The shaft carries the tooth q, playingin the opening m. In this opening are two angular notches, r s, and whenthe handle is turned to bring the tooth into the notch r the lever-hookis forced into'one of the notches of the post to fasten the rockersiixedly to the base, and the toothlocks the lever in position to preventdislodgment of the hook. When the shaft is turned to carry the toothinto theA other notch, s, the hook is drawn out from the notchand therockers are free to rock on the base, the tooth in its recess s lockingthe lever from any movement that can carry its hook forward.

I claim- In combination with the rocker-frame, connected to and rockingupon the base, the lever h, constructed with the opening m and levernotches r s, and having the hook g, for entering the notches in the armor post e, and operated by the shaft n, all substantially as shown anddescribed.

ALEXR. W. SIEYVART.

Witnesses:

. FRANcIS GoULD,

M. 1V. FROTHINGHAM.

